Miss Teenage America

The Miss Teenage America Pageant was a United States beauty pageant started in 1961 as a pageant for high school girls. In the 1960s and 1970s, it was usually broadcast on the CBS network around November each year.[1] The pageant was sponsored by Dr. Pepper. The original pageant ended after 1979, and the name rights were sold to Teen Magazine, which transformed the event into a mail-in contest which evaluated grades and volunteer work. The event ended after the 1998 Miss Teenage America was crowned, and Teen Magazine itself ceased operations in 2009.

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From 1961–1967 Dallas, Texas hosted the national pageant, and it moved to Fort Worth, Texas from 1968–1973. Afterwards, different cities throughout the United States hosted the national pageant.

Unlike today's Miss Teen USA and Miss America's Outstanding Teen, the pageant featured girls representing cities and not states. The contestants aged between 13 and 17. There was also a talent segment. The organizers experimented with the finalist formats until 1967, when it was fixed at eight finalists and then the top four. Finalists were always announced the night before the finals. Winners received a four-year college scholarship, a car from Chrysler or Dodge, cash, a personal appearance contract, as well as Dr. Pepper and American Airline stock.

A 1976 book attributed to Bob Hope, Erma Bombeck and Judith Houghton was titled "Miss Teenage America Tells How to Make Good Things Happen." The proceeds went into a scholarship fund for contestants. The organization also printed and sold punch out paper doll sets featuring the reigning queen.

The pageant organization began to disintegrate in 1979.[2] Instead of being televised nationally on a single network, the 1979 show was sold through syndication, playing on 64 different stations on 13 different nights, leaving little suspense as to who was going to win. Dr. Pepper suspended local contests in the hopes of getting a new national network deal, which did not occur.[3]

Dr. Pepper sold the pageant rights to Teen Magazine in 1981, who completely transformed the event into a mail-in contest which evaluated grades and volunteer work.[4] The event ended after the 1998 Miss Teenage America was crowned, and Teen Magazine itself ceased operations in 2009.

The unassociated Miss Teen USA pageant was essentially a TV replacement for Miss Teenage America, and first held in 1983.

Miss Teenage America 1964, Judy Doll, gave up her crown on May 19, 1964, to get married on May 31, 1964, to George Wolfe, a junior at Central Michigan University. The first runner-up, Jeanine Zavrel of Washington, DC, was awarded the title.[43]

It is very likely that Traci Reed, Miss Teenage Los Angeles was the first African American to compete in a nationally televised beauty pageant in fall of 1966, She was also one of the seven finalists and later had a starring role in one of the first TV sitcom about a black couple.
Donna Taylor Gann, Miss Teenage Lexington, Ky. 1966.